Dr Richard Suphapol Diteesawat
Education
2016-2020
PhD in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, University of Bristol and University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, thesis: “Development of Soft Artificial Muscles towards a Smart Assistive Suit”
2011-2015
B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering with honours degree, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, with the Best Dissertation Award for thesis: “Design and Construction of a Stair-climbing Robot with a Levelling Mechanism”
Career Path
Dec 2025 – Present
Assistant Professor (UK Lecturer) in Assistive Robotics, University of Bristol (UoB)
Sep 2025 – Present
Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, UoB
Project: Intelligent robotic textiles for human clothing evolution and life augmentation
Dec 2024 – Present
Researcher Co-Investigator, UoB (become Co-I since Sep 2025)
Project: EPSRC VIVO Healthcare Hub for Enhanced Independent Living
Jan 2020 – Nov 2024
Senior Research Associate, UoB (promoted to SRA in May 2023)
Project: EPSRC FREEHAB for accessible, comfortable and adaptable wearable rehabilitation
Oct 2018 – Jan 2020
Research Associate, UoB
Project: Novel design and control for electrostatic artificial muscles
Nov 2017 – Sep 2018
Research Assistant, UoB
Project: Wearable Soft Robotics for Independent Living
May 2015 – Aug 2016
Research Assistant, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Project: “XGlove” robot hand rehabilitative exoskeletons
Research grants
2025-2030: Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship (£625k), as PI
2025-2030: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) VIVO Healthcare Hub for Enhanced Independent Living (£13.4million), as Researcher Co-I
2026: EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Exploratory Award (£15k), “Active Sleeve for Better At-home Exercise and Effective Muscle Strength Training” project, as PI
2026: Global Positioning Fund, “University of Bristol and National University of Singapore partnership to design the future of functional clothing through smart textiles and soft robots” project, as Co-I
2026: University SEMT Pump Priming Fund, “SpeakClear: Reversible speech-activated transparency for clear and inclusive communication” project, as project mentor
2025: Academy of Medical Sciences Networking Grant (£25k), “UK-Thai Health Alliance: Advancing Assistive and Rehabilitative Technology with Human-Centred Robotics and AI for Good Health and Well-being” project (collaborating with School of Information Science and Technology, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology, VISTEC, and Faculties of Sports Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), as PI
2025: University SEMT Pump Priming Fund, “Plant AWEARABLE: Leveraging Biosensing Networked Systems for Wildfire Resilience” project, as Co-I
2025: EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Kickstarter Award, “Advancing Soft Artificial Muscles Towards Commercial-Quality Multifunctional Wearable Garments” project (collaborating with Winchester School of Art E-Textile Innovation Lab, University of Southampton, UK), as PI
2024: European Space Agency (ESA) Continuously Open Research Announcement Opportunity Fund (€20,500), “R-HEXsuit – A Resistive Hypogravity EXosuit for Muscle Health Maintenance in Space” project (collaborating with L.O.O.P. European Space Agency Ground-Based facility, University of Milan, Italy), as Co-I
2023: Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Grant (£5k), “Soft wearable mounting system to deliver comfortable, safe, mobility-assisting exoskeletons” project (collaborating with RIKEN Institute and Kyoto University, Japan), as PI
2023: Royal Academy of Engineering Proof-of-Concept Award (£50k), “RoboFlex PoC: Soft robotic knee exoskeleton for rehabilitation and restoration” project, as Co-I
2022: EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Award (£35k), “METAfit – Soft, safe and effective body interfacing for space” project (collaborating with Foster + Partners, UK), as Co-I
Awards
2025: Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Advance HE, UK
2024: Best Robot Design Award, 7th Robosoft conference, San Diego, USA
2023: Winner, Functional Fashion Competition, IROS conference, Detroit, USA
2023: Winner, Autonomous Soft Mobile Robot Competition, 6th Robosoft conference, Singapore
2023: Best Communication MSc project Award (as 1st supervisor), University of Bristol, UK
2019: Winner of EAP-in-Action Best Demonstration Award, SPIE’s 26th International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation, Denver, USA
2018: Popular Research Award, Research Without Borders, Bristol, UK
2015: Best Paper Award (“Dynamics Systems, Robotics, and Control”), 6th Thai Society of Mechanical Engineers (TSME) International Conference, Thailand
2015: Best Dissertation Award (“Autonomous Stair-climbing Robot”), Mechanical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Photo: PhD Viva Defence, 22 July 2020
Photo: PhD Graduation, 2020
B.Eng thesis: Stair-climbing robot, 2015
Project: XGlove – hand-rehabilitating glove, 2016
Photo: Competition at 1st IEEE Robosoft Conference, Italy, 2018
Photo: Right Trousers project showcase at British Science Festival, 2018
Photo: VIVO Hub Exosuit experiment with Dr Pulvirenti, 2025
Photo: MSc Lecture at University of Bristol, 2024
Photo: Presentation at National University of Singapore, 2025
Photo: VIVO Hub presentation at IEEE ICRA Workshop, 2026